Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood is battling back from his second Tommy John elbow surgery.(Getty Images file)

Tyler Chatwood has tunnel vision.

He’s sharply focused on getting back on the mound for the Rockies this season, and now there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The 25-year-old right-hander, who underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time last July, threw a 40-pitch bullpen on Sunday. He threw mostly fastballs and changeups, with a few curveballs at the end of the session.

“I think I’m ahead of where they expected me to be, throwing-wise, so that’s always good,” Chatwood said. “I really don’t want to set a schedule, but the plan is to come back this season.”

Chatwood’s first Tommy John surgery came when he was 16 and playing for Redlands East Valley High School in Southern California.

“I feel like that surgery went smoothly, and this has gone ever better,” he said. “I feel better and I’m more confident. I’m doing rehab every day, so that’s a lot different than high school.”

Chatwood has been traveling with the team because it helps him stay connected.

“The mental part is sometimes the toughest part, so it’s good to be around the guys,” he said.

Manager Walt Weiss said Chatwood is ahead of schedule, “but still a ways out.”

“I think he’s been ahead of schedule all along,” Weiss said. “But with his history and this being his second (surgery), we are going to take our time and make sure he’s ready to go out and compete.”

Asked if he thinks Chatwood can return to the big leagues this season, Weiss deferred, saying: “That’s such a ways out, I don’t want to put expectations on Tyler right now. He’s coming back from a tough injury and it’s been a pretty tough road for him. But he’s doing very well.”

In 70 big-league games (61) starts, Chatwood is 20-22 with a 4.34 ERA.

“We had a day off today, so I decided to come out and check out some of these guys and watch how good they are,” said Arenado, who was joined by fellow Rockies Tyler Chatwood, Ben Paulsen, Kyle Parker, Matt McBride and outfielder Drew Stubbs. “It’s amazing to watch them play and how consistent they are.”

Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will have to watch Friday night’s game against the Dodgers from the dugout. Tightness in his right groin took Tulo out of the starting lineup. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Troy Tulowitzki came the closest to breaking up Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter June 18, but Tulo won’t get another chance at the Dodgers’ ace Friday night.

The Rockies’ all-star shortstop tweaked his right groin running out an infield hit in the sixth inning Thursday night in Colorado’s 3-2 loss to the Dodgers. So Tulo is out of the starting lineup Friday night, and there is a possibility he could miss more games.

“He’s day to day,” manager Walt Weiss said, adding that Tulo could be out for a few days. “It’s possible, but I don’t see it as DL situation. That’s why we’re calling it day to day.”

Tulowitzki, who is available as a pinch hitter Friday night, called the move “precautionary.”

Rockies right-hander Christian Bergman is the latest Rockies pitcher to go down with a broken bone in his hand.

Walt Weiss was joking … sort of.

“We used to drink milk all the time when we were kids,” the Rockies manager quipped Tuesday before the Rockies hosted the Cardinals at Coors Field.

Milk does a body good, so they say, so maybe it could have strengthened some of the Rockies’ bones.

The Rockies lost another starting pitcher Tuesday when an MRI revealed a broken bone in Christian Bergman’s glove hand. Technically, he broke the trapezium bone near his thumb. He caught a line drive off his hand in the third inning against the Brewers last Friday. It was just his third big-league start.

“He will join the long list of pitchers, in particular, with broken hands,” Weiss said. “It’s been strange, kind of an epidemic around here.”

Rockies star left fielder Carlos Gonzalez is likely to be out another five weeks after a giant-cell tumor was found in his left index finger. (David Zalubowski, The Associated Press)

The Rockies have lost 14 of their last 17 games and are just 1 1/2 games out of the NL West cellar heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Braves at Coors Field.

Oh, by the way, the Braves are 22-5 vs. the Rockies since 2011, and they have Julio Tehran on the mound Wednesday night. All he did against the Rockies on May 2 in Atlanta was allow four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings in the Braves’ 7-0 victory.

* The results of the biopsy on Carlos Gonzalez’s left index finger won’t be back until the end of the week, but trainer Keith Dugger said that CarGo is likely to be out for five weeks. Surgery was performed on Gonzalez’s finger on Tuesday by Dr. Thomas Graham at the Cleveland Clinic.

On the day the Rockies were rained out before finishing the third game of a homestand against San Francisco on May 23, they were 26-21 — three games behind the Giants in the National League West. Since then, over 17 games, the Rockies have gone 3-14. That includes a 13-10 slugfest loss Tuesday to Atlanta.

Colorado is now 12 1/2 games behind the Giants — and just 1 1/2 games ahead of last place Arizona.

But Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies’ all-star shortstop, said he is sticking by his team. And recently, he seems to being going out of his way to stand up in this slump and defend his team.

There’s a big difference between necessity and desperation. And the Rockies — in going 5-10 since May 18 to fall progressively further behind red-hot San Francisco in the National League West — have underlined a need to boost their pitching staff.

The trick is to do it before the team gets desperate.

There are three highly-touted pitching prospects in Double-A waiting for a big-league shot with the Rockies:

Colorado Rockies’ Wilin Rosario celebrates his three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Coors Field on April 21, 2014 in Denver. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

The Bull is almost back.

Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario has reported to Triple-A Colorado Springs and will play a couple of rehab games for the Sky Sox beginning Friday, but manager Walt Weiss confirmed that Rosario could be back in the Rockies’ lineup on Sunday for the series finale vs. the Padres. That is the day Rosario is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list.

Rosario and infielder Josh Rutledge were both decked by a nasty virus, but not just any virus.

“They didn’t just have a bug, they had Type-B influenza — the real flu,” trainer Keith Dugger said. “That can wipe you out for a month. Wilin had a temperature over 103.”

There was a lot of news — good, bad and heartwarming — at Coors Field Monday afternoon before the Rockies took on the Texas Rangers.

Let’s get the bad out of the way first.

Right-handed starter Tyler Chatwood, who strained his right elbow last week in Arizona, was moved to the 60-day disabled list, a sign that the injury is going to take longer to heal than originally thought. It will be six to eight weeks before Chatwood can even begin to throw.

“We needed a roster spot and ‘Chatty’ is going to be down for a while,” manager Walt Weiss said. “It basically came down to that, with us needing a spot, and Chatty could use the time.”

Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood Chatwood will be out at least 6-8 weeks with an elbow injury. (Denver Post file photo).

Chatwood, who had Tommy John surgery in high school, was hoping last week that he didn’t tear his ulnar collateral ligament again. He didn’t. It’s officially a flexor-tendon strain with inflammation.

Carlos Gonzalez returns to the Rockies dugout after his solo home run in the first inning Thursday at Coors Field. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

Tyler Chatwood on Thursday was diagnosed with a flexor strain with inflammation in his right pitching elbow, he said, dodging what could have been another significant injury to the Rockies starting rotation.

“I’ve had pain in the flexor before,” Chatwood said. “It could have been a lot worse. I’m glad it’s not.”

In less than a week, the Rockies went from having a surprising surplus of pitchers to struggling to fill out a rotation. Brett Anderson’s move to the disabled list Sunday — after breaking a finger during an at-bat, just his ninth career at-bat — is the latest setback to Colorado’s rotation.

Anderson posted a photo of the X-ray of his broken finger (with the caption “Not so much here or here but right here…” — an excellent Tommy Boy reference, by the way, in case you were about to look it up):

SAN FRANCISCO — Tyler Chatwood was activated for his season debut Sunday, just in time for the Rockies to shift their concern to pitcher Brett Anderson.

Chatwood faces the Giants, his left hamstring deemed ready after a successful rehab start. Charlie Culberson was optioned to Triple-A to create room. There could be another roster move in the next few days based on Anderson’s bruised left finger. It was worse Sunday than expected, swelling significantly over night. He will undergo an X-Ray and possibly an MRI. He injured the finger on a groundball out in Saturday’s game, exiting in the top of the fourth inning.

SAN FRANCISCO — At no time during his his Rockies career has Tyler Chatwood thrown this well. From teammmates to catchers to the athletic trainer, all believe the right-hander has more life on his 95-mph fastball than ever.

It is what made his left hamstring injury difficult to stomach, and why the third-year pitcher is anxious to make his debut on Sunday against the Giants.

“It’s frustrating when you watch your teammates put in on the line and you aren’t out there to help them,” Chatwood said.

He admitted that in the past he might be prone to trying to do too much, too fast. However, Chatwood believes he’s ready to contribute, citing his health (his elbow has been a non-issue after having bone chips removed last winter) and an improved changeup.

Tyler Chatwood (Getty Images file)

“I am throwing it more and have more confidence in it,” Chatwood said.

While the Rockies have been abysmal at AT&T Park, Chatwood has not. He owns a 1.80 ERA in three starts here. His career 1.88 ERA against the Giants is third best among active pitchers with at least four starts. The Rockies must make a roster move to reinstate Chatwood. It’s possible they will go to seven relievers, sending out Chad Bettis, who has options. Or with Josh Rutledge performing well, the Rockies could send Charlie Culberson to Triple-A to get at-bats.

De La Rosa’s struggles
Jorge De La Rosa wasn’t available to the press after Friday’s outing, an indication of his disappointment with his start. The numbers are ugly: 4 1/3 innings in three consecutive outings and a 9.69 ERA. Manager Walt Weiss said more is less with De La Rosa. He believes the left-hander is overthrowing with runners on base, leading to missed location, walks and trouble in general. He wants to see De La Rosa trust his stuff more and pitch to contact when possible.

“I don’t think it’s a lack focus. … With runners on base, he’s starts to redline,” Weiss said. “He has to be able to reel it back in.”

Chicago’s Tyler Flowers connects on a Franklin Morales pitch for a home run to left field in the second inning Tuesday night at Coors Field. The White Sox blasted six home runs in a 15-3 win. ( Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

It was painful watching Wilton Lopez get pinballed around the ballpark Tuesday night as the boos rained down from the scattering of fans left at Coors Field.

The right-handed reliever, so good for Houston in 2012, was blasted for three homers, eight hits and six runs in two-thirds of a marathon eighth inning.

After the Rockies lost 15-3 to the White Sox, I asked manager Walt Weiss a blunt question:

“What has happened to Wilton Lopez, from the pitcher he was two years ago to the pitcher we saw tonight?”

Weiss, who, to his credit, never throws his players under a bus, responded: “Typically when you get hit hard up here, the ball is in the middle of the plate and it gets elevated. Its’ tough, when I think about ‘Lopey.’ He’s a warrior and he always wants the ball.”

Tyler Chatwood was set for the No. 3 spot in the Rockies rotation coming out of spring. But then, in his final Cactus League outing, he pulled a hammy trying for a triple.

Enter Lyles, who pitched well in spring, but was headed for Triple-A Colorado Springs to start the season. Instead, he slotted in Chatwood’s spot — and he won both his starts, at Miami and in Denver. He’s 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA.

MIAMI — Lost in the winless start, first baseman Justin Morneau has begun the season well. Typically, this means nothing for anyone. However, Justin Morneau is replacing Todd Helton, ending the all-star’s 17-year run with the Rockies, and wearing friend Larry Walker’s No. 33 jersey.

He had reasons to press. So far, he’s shown patience offensively, going for 4-for-8 entering Wednesday’s game against Miami’s Henderson Alvarez.

Morneau missed two weeks in spring training with a stiff neck, something he said flares up a couple of times a season. While Morneau hasn’t shown power, manager Walt Weiss predicted he would, reminding reporters that the first baseman hit nine home runs last August before being traded to the Pirates.

MIAMI — With Jhoulys Chacin out for a month, the Rockies are proceeding cautiously with Tyler Chatwood. As I wrote Monday, Chatwood will not start on Wednesday. The club announced that Jordan Lyles will take his turn against the Marlins.

Manager Walt Weiss said Monday that Chatwood will go on the disabled list. The issue is running the bases and covering first on a groundball. Chatwood felt discomfort on Sunday when his cleats dug into the dirt. The tentative plan is for Chatwood to throw an aggressive 65-pitch simulated game or side session on Wednesday, then make one rehab start before possibly returning to the rotation on April 12 in San Francisco.

PEORIA, Ariz. — The Rockies’ penultimate game of spring training was a double-barreled bummer.

Not only did they lose 3-2 to the Mariners in walkoff fashion Friday night, they also might have lost right-handed starter Tyler Chatwood to a hamstring injury. He was removed from the game in the top of the third with what the Rockies called “a slight strain and cramping in his left hamstring.”

The Rockies hope the injury is not serious. Chatwood will be reevaluated Saturday.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.